Dear Anonymous
by But I Have Promises To Keep
Summary: When Natara gets creepy 'gifts' from an anonymous person, who is it and what do they want? Rated T for language.
1. Chapter 1

**Just as a side note, the poems that are on here most likely don't belong to me. I recently discovered, after completing a English project, I can't write poetry. Well, I can. I can pick up a pencil, write down words, make stuff rhyme…that's pretty much it. And poetry is so much more than that. So I can write poetry, just not GOOD poetry. So I'll give credit to whoever wrote it at the beginning of each chapter where I use it. This one is "We Wear The Mask" by Paul Laurence Dunbar.**

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><p>The first one came on October 31st. It was the stations Halloween party, what should have been the second one Natara had been to. Mal still hadn't let go of what Natara's costume last year, even though she got the one she was supposed to get last time. She was already getting rather annoyed at Mal by the end of the night, and got even more ticked off when she got back to her car. She opened the door, finding a plain masquerade mask sitting on the from seat. "Mal, what the hell…?" she muttered to herself. She looked up where most of the cars were leaving, including Mal's. She picked up the mask, turning it over. There was a note taped to the back. It read in ominous red ink:<p>

_ We wear the mask that grins and lies, _  
><em> It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes,— <em>  
><em> This debt we pay to human guile; <em>  
><em> With torn and bleeding hearts we smile, <em>  
><em> And mouth with myriad subtleties.<em>

"Not funny" she muttered, throwing the mask in the back of her car and driving home. She knew Mal was just messing with her, trying to creep her out. But he should know that was crossing the line and hitting to close to home. How could he even joke about that? She left the mask in the back of her car, walked back to her room and got out of her costume. She was just thinking to herself that she would have to talk to Mal about it in the morning, but remembered if it was a joke he was hoping she would get creeped out. 'Maybe I shouldn't say anything' she thought. She decided to figure out what she would do in the morning, when she wasn't so annoyed from the constant jokes about her attire last year.

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><p>"What the heck is wrong with you?" spat Natara the next morning when she saw Mal at work.<br>Mal looked taken back for a moment "What are you talking about?".  
>Natara took the mask she found in her car and put it right in his face "Is this supposed to be some kind of a joke?".<br>"Maybe? Where did you get that?" he asked. Natara knew he wasn't showing any of the signs if lying, but still thought he knew something.  
>"It was in my car last night Mal! If you're trying to freak me out, it's not working" she said angrily.<br>"I swear, I didn't put it there. Why would I do that? That's just messed up. Maybe Kai put it there as one of his creepy little pranks" suggested Mal.  
>Natara shook her head "I don't think so. Kai wasn't even here when we were working the Maskmaker case. Why would he have done it?".<br>"To creep you out".

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><p>By the end of the day Natara could say she was really getting creeped out. Kai denied putting the mask in her car, and didn't seem like he was lying. She knew neither Amy or Ken would do it, and couldn't get her mind off of it the whole day.<br>"Didn't you have your car locked?" Mal asked later.  
>"Yeah, but I'm sure there are tons of ways to open a locked car without the owners consent".<br>Mal looked at her seriously "I don't like this Natara, this is just plain creepy. You should tell someone".  
>She scowled "I'm sure it's just a prank. I can take care of it myself Mal". But she couldn't help but think maybe he was right, that something about this was just sick. She quickly shoved this thought from her mind. '<em>Its just a stupid prank<em>' she thought '_Just Someones stupid idea of a prank_'.


	2. Chapter 2

**The poem is "Rescue Me" by Terri Onorato. It's was originally about rescue dogs…but I took the verses before and after it and it worked :P**

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><p>"Seriously Nat, you need to tell someone, this is getting out of hand" said Mal. It was the night of November third when Natara returned home, finding an object that seemed familiar. It took her a moment to figure out why that object, a pure white teacup, seemed so eerily familiar. Then she realized why, how could she forget? It looked exactly like the bone teacups that she had seen when her sister had been taken by Genevieve Collins. When she had taken her place. When she inspected it closer, she saw something was written on the inside of the cup, swirling around in a seemingly endless circle.<p>

_'Rescue me not only with your hands but with your heart as well. _  
><em>I will respond to you.<em>  
><em>Rescue me not out of pity but out of love. <em>  
><em>I will love you back.<em>  
><em>Rescue me not with self-righteousness but with compassion. <em>  
><em>I will learn what you teach.'<em>

She quickly told Mal about it, and gave the cup to Amy to see if it really was the same one. It came back negative, and was made out of various animal bones. "It's getting more and more personal. They got in your hotel room Nat! This is serious".  
>Natara shook her head "I don't think so, whoever this is clearly is just an attention-seeker. Making this an investigation might just make it worse. I'll get the locks changed, but for the time being I'll use the chain lock on my door and maybe ride to work with you?".<br>"Whatever, you're the profiler. I still think this sounds like-".  
>"Like who?" she said. She knew who he meant, and knew this was impossible. For now though, she ignored what both his and her own suspicions were. There was no need to make it more serious than it was.<p>

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><p><strong>Who do you think is sending these things to Natara, and why? I just want to know how predictable I am :P.<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**OMG. I just bought the valentines day package. First off, they talked about cosplaying. I will admit I've done that before for Harry Potter…and it was fun. Also…OMG SPOILER ALERT: someone is going to die. I'm rather concerned, even thought I don't think it'll be Mal or Natara because their kinda on the logo…but I swear if they kill Kai, Amy, Ken, Maria (she's one of my fav.s) Mal or Natara, I'm done. I've bought EVERYTHING from the on demand store (just not the 'next week episodes'). I've thoroughly invested in every one of these characters emotionally, and I swear if anyone but Blaise (because I don't really know her, but I don't want anyone to die) dies, I'm done. You should never simply kill a character for a audience reaction, deaths need to hold significance. I have written FanFic's where Mal/Natara dies, but I don't want them to actually happen! I think it'll be Blaise who dies, and from the preview I think it'll be because Natara couldn't save her or something. Then she'll either feel really bad or Mal will be upset with her. Okay, rant over. BUT I'M FREAKING WORRIED! ps. The poem is Kevin Seales- 'Hunting'.**

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><p>The next 'gift' was the last straw. It was only a few days after the teacup incident, and Natara had already gotten her locks changed. Natara finally took Mal's advice and told Captain Yeong, not that she had any choice in this. As she waited with Mal to wait for what Amy would make of it, she remembered what she had seen only hours before.<p>

Natara was returning home, and ever since she had her locks changed the the weird 'gifts' as Mal took to calling them, stopped. Whoever it was clearly gave up, or so Natara thought. After being dropped off by Mal, she walked back to her hotel room. Seeing the door, she dropped her laptop bag in shock. A wooden hunters arrow was jammed into the peephole of her door, violently. The glass of the hole was broken, and words were messily carved into her door.

_So take my advise and play it safe_  
><em>Hunting is not a game<em>  
><em>Take your time, it's not a race<em>  
><em>The results will still be the same<em>

Now she waited, and couldn't help the waves of anxiety that flowed over her. The others were nearly harmless, but this? This was vain and hateful, and whoever did this was sending a clear message: they meant business. Amy came back up the steps, and clear confusion was written in her face. She clearly had nothing. "It's been wiped clean" she said "It's just a regular hunting arrow, one you could buy at any sports outlet. Whoever did this must have been wearing gloves".  
>"How did someone like that go through a hotel unnoticed?" she asked. She still couldn't believe someone had done this. It wasn't what they had actually done, just the fact that someone did something out of pure hatred, something that was clearly purposeful. It was as if the arrow itself was a clear death threat.<br>"We don't know, we're going through security footage right now. I just can't belive someone would do something like this. What do you think they want?".  
>Natara shook her head "I don't know, but it's hitting a little to close to home".<br>"What do you mean?".  
>"A <em>mask<em>. A teacup like the one we saw while on the _Genevieve Collins_ case. A _hunters_ arrow. These all have some connection to major cases we've been on".  
>Amy gave her a sympathetic look, clearly not sure what to say. "Captain says we should keep this under wraps. If word of this gets out things could get bad, especially if you're right and this guy is an attention seeker".<br>Natara nodded slowly "I couldn't agree more".


	4. Chapter 4

**The poem is _'Zero is the God of Death'_. Author unknown. (Also very exited here! _FINALLY_ going to be able to drive soon, even thought my birthday was forever ago. ((My mom didn't want me driving)) Also, I may be joining the EMT's (emergency medical technicians) next year! Excitement, although I hope I never have to use the training…)**

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><p>The investigation wasn't a major one, until the fourth 'gift' showed up. Natara had been on-edge since the arrow had shown up, and now double locked her door and latched the windows at night. Mal joked that she was acting like one of those robber-fearing old ladies. Natara was too distracted to come up with a clever retort, and this concerned Mal. She appeared to be looking over a file that morning, but Mal noticed her eyes were glazed over and unfocused. "Nat" he called, but she didn't even respond. "Nat!". Natara almost jumped out of her skin, nearly spilling the contents of the file onto the floor.<br>"What?" she spat angrily.  
>"Are you okay? You seem a little on-edge. It's not like you".<br>"I'm fine Mal" she said. In truth she knew she was not fine. She had barely slept ever since the arrow appeared in her door. They had taken the door and put in a replacement, Amy looking for anything that might help embedded in the wood. Nothing came up, and all she could come up with was that it had been carved with a regular steel pocket knife. The couldn't explain why this bothered her so much. She saw thing like this every day after all, it had just never been this personal. She left that day exhausted, wishing for nothing more then being able to actually sleep. She came home and threw her things on her couch, going immediately back to her bedroom and going to bed. It took a long time, but she eventually found sleep.

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><p>The next morning was when the next 'gift' came. Natara had gotten up in the morning, glad she had finally gotten a few hours of sleep. She had already gotten dressed and was half-way out the door when she even saw it, standing out clearly on the white of the walls. She only saw it in the corner of her eye, a flash of color. She backed up, and almost screamed in pure horror that such a thing could suddenly appear. As she stared she took a step back in pure horror, her mouth open in a silent scream. The image was reflected in her wide and fearful eyes. A large red zero with a slash through it, painted like a mural on it wall. It shined with an eerie red glow, clearly written in blood.<p>

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><p>Hours later Natara waited outside the crime lab with Mal, clearly shaken. Her hotel room was currently roped off, and it was likely she wouldn't be able to return home later. Amy called from just inside, and Natara and Mal followed her voice. "So…do you want the bad news or the worse news?" said Kai a little to brightly. Natara scowled at him and Amy gave him a scolding glance. She explained "You were right, it was drawn in blood" she explained "Unfortunately we're waiting to see who's it is. I don't have a match for the blood, so we're pretty much stuck until a body or something comes up. There are no matches in any of my databases and I can't find any 'Jane Doe's' in the area that match either. I found a list of missing persons" she clicked a few times on her computer, and a few faces flashed across the screen. A woman of maybe eighteen with dark hair and deeply set dark eyes. A man with a rather haughty face, and several other random faces with impressionable faces. "About ten of them match the blood type. This one" she clicked again, and the face of the dark hair woman with the deep eyes enlarged. "Jane Nott. She disappeared only a few days ago".<br>Natara nodded "She's rather young, she could have run away. Any signs of a struggle?".  
>"No, but her friends and family claim she'd have never ran away. Straight A student, responsible, about to be accepted into Yale. Not exactly your average run-away".<br>"Any suspects?" Mal asked.  
>"Jane's boyfriend Gavin 'Gally' Laurence. Cleared almost immediately after accused, he had a solid alibi".<br>"Thanks Amy, we'll check it out". Mal and Natara left, climbing up the steps and out of the crime lab.  
>"So what does the mind reader think of this?" asked Mal. On normal circumstances, she would have retorted about how she wasn't a 'mind reader'. Now however, she simply answered rather tiredly "I don't know, I just don't know".<br>Mal was taken back at this answer. Natara seemed to always know, always seeing what other people didn't. She seemed to think for a moment, and Mal could practically see the wheels turning in her mind. "It's someone smart, someone who can talk their way through anything, make people believe they're someone their not. That's how they got into my room unnoticed".  
>Mal smiled "There's Natara, I thought we lost you for a minute there".<br>"Natara?" said Amy, coming up the steps "You might want to see this". She handed Natara her phone, and Mal peered over her shoulder to see it. "Kai just found it". On the phone was a piece of paper, crumpled with black typed words across the front. The words were blurry because of the picture, but Natara could still read them.

_Because it is the absence_  
><em>of having, and the existence<em>  
><em>of memory- subjective,<em>  
><em>and worthless.<em>  
><em>Why would you ever<em>  
><em>choose to factor<em>  
><em>anything you had<em>  
><em>by zero? To test it?<em>  
><em>To see if it will break<em>  
><em>the chains of math?<em>


	5. Chapter 5

"That was a complete waste of time" spat Natara as she stormed out to the car, Mal close on her heels. She was clearly agitated, but was still able to keep cool even after the family of the missing girl didn't know anything useful. She forcefully opened her door, got in and closed her door unnecessarily hard. Mal got in beside her, looking at the scowl that had become the norm on her face.  
>"You okay?" he asked. He knew this was a stupid question, but couldn't help but ask.<br>"I'm fine" she said angrily. "If I could just have a minute to get my head on straight before another freaking arrow gets shot through my door, maybe I could actually think". She buckled her seatbelt angrily, as if the car itself had wronged her.  
>"No offense, but you don't look fine. Actually you look awful".<br>"Thanks Mal, that makes me feel so much better".  
>He shook his head "okay, that came out wrong. Have you even slept once since that arrow got stabbed in your door".<br>"Maybe? You try sleeping knowing someone's out there who most likely wants to kill you".  
>Mal said sympathetically "Do you even have anywhere to go tonight?".<br>"Doesn't matter, no way I'm sleeping now. That's how they got in last time, they could have slit my throat at any time! But I think they want to antagonize me before they do, they want to give me some kind of message before I die".  
>"First things first, you need some rest. You can stay with me, and if it makes you feel better we'll sleep in shifts".<br>Natara didn't answer for a moment. "You'd do that?".  
>"On one condition, I'm taking first watch. I'm not kidding when I say you look awful".<p>

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><p>Mal was sitting on his own couch, waiting for something he knew probably wouldn't come. It would be Natara's turn to keep watch soon, but Mal had no intention of waking her. He was doing perfectly fine, drinking coffee to stay awake and flipping through the random shows that came on at one o'clock in the morning. He heard a slight shift beside him, and instinctually look, rather startled. Natara was there, and had clearly just woken up.<br>"Isn't it my turn yet?" she said, barely getting it out through her yawn.  
>"No, not for a while" Mal lied. She sat down beside him anyways, clearly still drowsy.<br>"I'm guessing nothing to exciting has happened". She couldn't hide the tone in her voice that clearly showed she wished for something to happen. It was easier to fight something you could see.  
>"Nope. I'd go back to sleep if I were you". She didn't though, and remained silently beside him.<br>"Want me to watch for a while?". Mal could tell she was still wary of going back to sleep, unknowing of what was going on around her. Mal simply looked at her, as if he could physically see what was going through her head.  
>"You're gonna be okay, you know that, right?".<br>She didn't respond, but simply said "It's two in the morning Mal, why don't you get some sleep?". Mal didn't fight her, knowing she probably wanted some time alone. He got up and left her, and saw her draw her knees close to her chest and wrap her arms around them, as if to curl up like a turtle in it's shell. 


	6. Chapter 6

Natara heard Mal walk away from her, and it bugged her that he wasn't in her line if vision. 'What is wrong with you?' she thought. 'Mal's not about to attack you, you can trust him'. He pulled her legs up, wrapping her arms around her shins and resting her chin on her knees. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to make sense of all that had happened over the last several days. What had suddenly brought this on? Who was doing this and what did they want? Questions like these ran through her head in a way they never had before. In a way that seemed to block everything she knew, obscuring her ability to answer these questions herself. _"You're gonna be okay, you know that, right?"_ Mal's voice echoed in her mind.  
>'When Mal?' she asked this imaginary voice 'When are things going to be okay? When am I going to be okay?'. She defiantly wasn't okay now, with fear and uncertainty mingling in her own mind. She could feel herself getting a headache simply from trying to put the pieces together, as if her thoughts had grabbed her just behind the eyes. As if causing mental pain wasn't bad enough, she had to have physical pain also. 'I'll only close my eyes for a minute' she told herself 'just until my headache goes away. What could happen in a few short minutes?'. She did close her eyes again, but as soon as she felt herself drifting off a sharp noise made her jump. It was only one of the springs in the couch, but Natara's hearing seemed to sharpen after that. Every harmless creak seemed to have a more sinister purpose. Every shadow an omen of death. The result was lying in fear most of the night. She felt childish for feeling this way, but didn't care. All she cared about was making sure she didn't leave her guard down. Every 'gift' made her think whoever did this was spiraling into madness, if not there already. Each one was more risky, but also more personal. She put her legs back down, trying to relax. She hated herself for it, but found herself nodding off again. She couldn't stop it though, and had quickly dozed off.<p>

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><p>Natara woke with a start in the morning, a sharp click making her jump.<br>"Relax" said Mal, walking past and handing her a cup of coffee. She took it gratefully, finding she was wrapped in a blanket that hasn't been there before. Obviously Mal's doing. He sat down next to her, sipping his own coffee. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily.  
>"Five. Amy called, she said she got some of your clothes from your hotel room and will be bringing them over in an hour or so . They haven't cleared the rrom yet, but she got around the rules".<br>Natara nodded, and was about to day something when a loud crash interrupted her. It was so sudden it made both of them jump, Natara almost spilling coffee down herself. "What the heck?" said Mal under his breath. He put his cup down and crossed the room and looked out the window. He suddenly turned around, already half-way out the door before he yelled back "Nat, stay here!". Of course this meant Natara had to follow him, and she full-out sprinted after her partner. She lost sight of him, but could hear him as she followed around corners and down the steps. Mal stopped, his panting breaths making steam rise in the early November air. The streets were completely empty, making them look like strangers in a deserted land. Mal was standing in front of his car, and Natara tried to peer around him to see what he was looking at. She felt like a stone had dropped in her stomach when she saw what was the matter. Something had been thrown through the windshield. The glass was broken and little shards lay like raindrops on the road. She came closer, and saw the object that had been thrown through the windshield was a gun.

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><p><strong>I will be posting again very soon, probably in an hour or so. I just wanted to get this up awhile<strong>


	7. Chapter 7

**So, I found the poem on some website, the person who wrote this was using a username, so here's the URL. The poem is: Blood Stained Red. I found it on:**  
><strong>.compoem/blood-stained-red. Also, thanks so much for the reviews! (that means you mozzi-girl and MaltaraFluff647) you guys are awesome!**

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><p>Amy's face seemed to grow grimmer and grimmer as she typed furiously on her computer. She was examining the gun, trying to find a match.<br>Kai teased as he walked by "So, sleepover at malligator's house? Why wasn't I invited?".  
>"Kai!" Amy scolded, but didn't even take her eyes off the computer. She turned around so suddenly in her seat it spooked Natara, who hated how jumpy she had become. Amy's face had reached new levels of seriousness, and Natara had never seen her look at anyone in this way. Amy was about to say something, but then she was quickly distracted by several papers being printed. She handed Natara the top sheet, keeping the others for herself. "That's a copy of what was found stuffed in the barrel of the gun" she said distractedly. Natara held it so both her and Mal could read it.<p>

_If i slit my throat, what _  
><em>would you do?<em>  
><em>Just stand there and watch me subdue.<em>  
><em>Watch me bleed, watch me die,<em>  
><em>Everyone else will just hide.<em>  
><em>Watch me as my blood curls round your toes,<em>  
><em>As the wind howls and blows.<em>  
><em>Watch me as I stain the grass blood red,<em>  
><em>I can tell i am messing with your head.<em>  
><em>My eyelids close, my eyes want to hide,<em>  
><em>Who knew my organs has already died?<em>  
><em>Stop the bleeding, stop the pain,<em>  
><em>All my screams have been substained.<em>  
><em>As i drift away to the promised land,<em>  
><em>A blood stained white rose, Falls from my hand.<em>

'Why is this one so long? So…personal?' she thought. It was almost as whoever wrote this took particular significance to this case, and her mind once again jumped to conclusions. "Natara?" said Amy shakily. Natara looked up. "This may come as a bit of a shock…but I found the owner of the gun" she said slowly.  
>"Who's is it?" she asked, but already knew the answer.<br>"Shawn Mallory's" she said, with the air if unleashing a bomb. Natara didn't react, knowing this was coming.  
>"But that doesn't mean it's him. He's dead" she stated. Amy looked at her as if she had gone wild, as if she were someone sick and contagious.<br>"Nat…we don't know-".  
>"It was the one he had when…when he died" Amy said in barely a whisper. There was a silence in which the room took in the impact of her words.<br>"He's dead. He can come back, that's impossible" announced Natara. She was surprised by the monotonous tone in her voice. She simply looked at the gun in the evidence bag sitting on the table. The gun that had killed so many criminals, convicted or not. She had a sudden desire to throw it across the room, but put the thought out of her head by looking away.  
>Amy and Mal both peered at her sympathetically, seemingly deciding weather to contradict her or not. "That's not all" she said. She motioned for them to look at her monitor, and they both looked over Amy's shoulder. She had the news brought up online, and clicked play on the top video. A pretty blonde woman was talking, and it was clearly early on the morning as she stood outside the stations framiliar structure. "I'm here this morning outside the San Francisco police station, where rumors are spreading that one of our own officers is being threatened" said the woman. 'We'll she got one thing wrong' she thought 'I'm not an police officer, so no one would guess it was me'.<br>"People have been calling this mysterious person 'The Rhyme Schemer'-" she stared, but her next few words were cut of by Mal's comment of "Well people will certainly be calling him that after seeing this". Amy shushed him, but the woman had already disappeared, replaced by a smiling meteorologist.  
>"I'm sorry" apologized Amy "We tried to keep it under wraps-".<br>But she was cut off by Natara "It doesn't matter now, this guy got what he wants. And now he's not going to stop until we stop him". There was a long silence, and Natara took a deep and calming breath. Then she finally said "Mal? Can I have a privet word?".  
>She ignored Kai's remark of 'oooooohhhh…Someones in trouble…" and Mal followed her out. They walked up the steps, stopping at the top.<br>"I'm finding somewhere else to go, I don't want you to have to get involved in this".  
>"Nat, I am involved in this!".<br>She sighed "yeah, because of me. If I leave they might leave you alone".  
>"And they also might find you wherever you go. You're not going anywhere, there's no where you can go without them following you. I'd rather take a gun to the car then have you take a bullet to the temple".<br>She thought for a moment "Just until I find somewhere safer to stay, I don't want to bug you".  
>"Take all the time you need". He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder "We're partners Nat. It's what we do, we protect each other".<p>

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><p>Later that night Mal insisted on taking the first shift, despite Natara's protests. He wasn't even sitting for fifteen minutes until Natara came back out, sitting next Mal on the couch.<br>"Can't sleep?" he asked she nodded.  
>She took a deep breath and sat back, as if getting up the nerve to say what she said next. "Do you really think Shawn could have survived? That he's really back?".<br>"I don't know Nat, but I promise we'll find him if he is. We'll make him stop".  
>Her hand accidentally brushed his, and she surprised him by keeping her hand very close to his.<br>"Do you think things will ever be normal again?".  
>"I don't know" he said "we aren't exactly normal people". A long silence followed, but not a bad one. It was more of a peaceful moment, but it was quickly disrupted by something hitting Mal's shoulder. Natara had fallen asleep, and must have been tired enough to not even realize her head had fallen on his arm. "We aren't normal people" he barely whispered. He carefully brushed some hair from her closed eyes, and she didn't even stir.<p> 


	8. Chapter 8

**So…I usually don't type a lot of review replies because I find it rather tedious, but I'm going to try and reply to some of the more recent reviews, so here it goes: **

**To _mozzi-girl_:**  
><strong>You're awesome, you know that right? You're reviews totally make my day! When you said I have a way of capturing emotions, I seriously was so happy! I was having a suckish day and then I saw that and I had an awesome day after that! It makes me happy that Kai made you laugh, I struggle with writing for him so much. I have issues getting a feel for his character so often don't include him. Thanks so much! <strong>

**To _baller13_:**  
><strong>Hope I didn't get you in too much trouble :) I get in trouble at school for reading at inappropriate times…once my teacher was going to take my book, but then saw it was 'Killing ' which is about some students who murder their teacher for being a jerk…he let me keep my book. <strong>

**To_ SVUProductions_: **  
><strong>Good guess! I was trying to leave little clues about it throughout the story, good job spotting them!<strong>

**To _diamondsintheroughhh_:**  
><strong>Thanks! In my mind 'creepy' is a complement! I love reading creepy things, even if I can't sleep for a week…<strong>

**To _MaltaraFluff647_:**  
><strong>I know! I obsess over the little things too! I don't think I would like it as much if Mal and Natara were together, there would be no tension and I wouldn't have the little things to obsess over! It just wouldn't be as cute!<strong>

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I couldn't find a good enough poem, so I just used lyrics from 'Snow White Queen' by Evanescence.**

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><p>Natara woke with a jerk when her phone rang in the morning, and her jump woke Mal up. The awkwardness of the moment was minimized by Natara getting up right away to find her phone. Mal had fallen asleep, slumped against the side of the couch. She was leaning on him, her head on her arm. Two days ago it would have bothered her that they had both fallen asleep, but she didn't even think twice about it now. It was if she had fled to a safe haven, a bubble in which she couldn't be touched. There was no need to keep watch in a safe place. She found her cell phone, glancing at the caller ID and seeing it was Amy.<br>"Hello?" said Natara, picking it up.  
>"Natara? Can you hear me?" Amy yelled unnecessarily loud. There was the sound of wind in the background.<br>"Yeah, where are you?" she said "Are you outside?".  
>"Yeah" she said, and Natara could sense a shutter in her voice "We've found that girl, Jane. I'm at Alcatraz island…on the roof". Natara now knew why she must have given an involuntary shutter. She couldn't imagine the horrible memories that place brought back.<br>"Do you need us down there?" she asked.  
>"No, not necessarily. Still…" she trailed off, as if choosing her next words carefully. "Maybe you should just come, it all might be easier to explain. I gotta go, Kai's calling me to look at something".<br>"Wait! What will be easier to-?" but Amy had already hung up.

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><p>An hour later Natara held her coat close around her body as the wind wiped past her, trying desperately to cling to any form of heat. Mal was studying the scene next to her, looking intently at the body before them. It was Jane, her face was utterly the same. Her hair was matted from the wind, her clothes ripped and wind blown. There was a single puncture wound in her throat, and Natara noticed the lack of blood. Her hand was curled around something, and Kai was putting on gloves to remove it from her palm.<br>"She was found this morning" Amy explained "by a security guard. Kai placed her time of death as several days ago. Her blood levels are low, and I dropped off a few blood samples a while ago. They should tell us if it's a match to what was on the wall in an hour or so.  
>"Oh, this is so cool…" said Kai to no one in particular. He must have sensed the narrowed gaze of Natara on his back, for he corrected himself by saying "I mean creepy…so very messed up".<br>"What is it Kai?" asked Mal. Natara realized with a jolt what he had in his hand was a white chess piece: a queen. Tied along with it was a small piece of paper. He held it out to Amy, who opened up an evidence bag for him. She set it down, kneeling beside him to also examine the body. "I hate being out in the field" Natara heard her mutter "especially here". Kai said something that Natara didn't hear, but it was an obvious attempt to cheer her up when Amy let out a light laugh. It was strange and eerie as it faintly rang across the roof, and was quickly stifled.

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><p>After another hour they were in the warm crime lab, Amy checking the blood samples and saying from across the room "it's a match". Natara barely took the impact of her words, there were other things she wanted to hear. Amy walked back over to her computer, clicking a few times and eventually a replica of what looked like the note from earlier printed out. Natara took it as soon as it came out, the paper still warm between her hands, chasing away the lingering cold from her fingers.<p>

_You belong to me,_  
><em>My snow white queen.<em>  
><em>There's nowhere to run, so let's just get it over.<em>  
><em>Soon I know you'll see,<em>  
><em>You're just like me.<em>  
><em>Don't scream anymore my love, 'cause all I want is you.<em>

Natara looked up, almost knowing what was coming next. "There were prints on this one. Shawn…" said Amy. Natara felt a stone drop in her stomach. "He's back".

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><p><strong>I plan on updating in a hour or so, so check back soon!<strong>


	9. Chapter 9

**Sorry it's so short :P**

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><p>Pushing past her shock at Amy's words, Natara and Mal got to work. Looking at photo's, fitting each piece together like a puzzle. For the first time she noticed how each one was more violent, more desperate and risky. As if each one was another step to madness. The first few were calm and collected, the next few degrading into what seemed to be uncontrollable desperation. Spiraling down until there was nothing left of the old Shawn. The last was obviously what made her really question if he even had a sliver sanity left. The others he had meticulously made sure he left no trace of himself, but this one seemed to be completely careless. And the Shawn she knew was smarter than that. But the Shawn she knew was long gone.<br>"What I want to know" said Mal eventually "Is how he survived". Natara shrugged, ignoring the nagging feeling that the man before her had been the one who had nearly killed Shawn in the first place. Amy suddenly came rushing upstairs, holding something in her hand. "This was in the mailbox this morning, for you. I didn't find anything suspicious about it, but considering…". She handed Natara the envelope with shaking hands. It bore no stamp, nor a return address, but it did have her name on it. Natara took in carefully, as if it could possibly contain explosives. Words were cramped in messy handwriting in the front in place of the return address, as if the writers hand had badly shaken as they wrote.  
>'<em>Do not open until the time is right'.<em>  
>"Are you going to open it?" asked Amy nervously.<br>Natara didn't respond until she carefully tucked the envolope in her jacket. "Not yet, this could be a test or a trap. Who knows what I could set off if whoever sent this knew I opened it now? No, I'll open it when it says, when the time is right".  
>"And how will you know when that is?" asked Mal skeptically. Natara didn't respond, but didn't take the note back out of her pocket either.<p>

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><p><strong>The plot thickens<em>...what do you think is in the envelope, who do you think sent it and why?<em>**


	10. Chapter 10

Mal kept bugging Natara about what was in the envelope. She let him try holding it up to the light to see what was in it, written or not. He said he could see marking, words most likely, but couldn't make out what they were. She tucked the envelope back in the inside pocket if her jacket again, despite the curiosity that ate away at her. They barely even started trying to find out where Shawn would go when Natara's cell phone, which was sitting on the table, started ringing. There was a moment in which it rang and they both froze, as if unsure if the noise was real. Natara picked it up, finding it was an unknown number.  
>"Hello?" she said. There was the sound of waves roaring and waves crashing, then they hung up. They didn't need to say anything, she knew who it was. Even before she took the phone down for Amy to trace, finding the call was made from a pay phone near the tourist area at Alcatraz island. Even before there was a long silence in which they all came to the same conclusion.<br>"That's it" Natara said "he wants us to come. He wants us to end it".  
>Mal looked at her seriously "and what do you think we'll find there? We don't know if he's still with Genevieve, we could be walking straight into a trap". Natara didn't answer, but looked down at the ground for a minute. "Would you be able to do it, if it came down to your life? Would you be prepared to end him?".<br>She looked up at him, knowing her answer. Looking him straight in the eye, she said "I'm ready to end it".

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><p>'One boat, two of us. One Shawn, who knows how many others. Five? Ten? None?' This is what Natara thought as the tiny boat she and Mal were taking neared the shore. They had decided it would be unwise to send in large amount of people, especially considering they didn't even know what was waiting for them. It could be nothing. It could be everything. The boat neared the shore, and Natara yelled to Mal over the now-roaring waves "You take the east side! I'll take the west!". Mal nodded, knowing he wouldn't be heard over the waves that signaled an impending storm. He walked carefully away from her, his gun drawn. Natara didn't waste another moment, she started running as soon as she knew she was out of his line of vision. She knew this wasn't safe, but part of her knew where Shawn would be. That he wasn't about to shoot her with a sniper as she ran, if he wanted her to die he wanted to see it. Watch as the light left her eyes. She knew she had to get there before Mal did. She wanted to see for herself what was salvageable of Shawn before Mal intervened. That there might be something, no matter how small, of the person she had known so well. She rounded the corner, finally drawing her gun as she slowly and silently treaded up the steps. As quietly as possible, she opened the door and crept in. He had his back to her, and it would have been so easy to sneak up behind him. To end it right there. But she knew that was wrong, that even if she didn't know him personally, she would still have to give in a chance. But this wasn't what she thought as she did what she did next. She was only thinking of days long gone, before she had met Mal and before the Maskmaker case. Before Shawn became what he studied. If felt like an eternity that she stood there, when in reality it was only a few seconds. 'How far should you go to bring someone back? To make amends, change things and make them right?'. This was the question she asked herself as she called his name softly. "Shawn". He slowly turned around, and Natara took a step back in shock.<p> 


	11. Chapter 11

**Sorry my chapters are late, I was having problems with Fanfiction. Anyone else unable to log in for the longest time?**

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><p>The man that stood before her was not Shawn. In a sense it was, but the man she saw had changed so much he was almost unrecognizable. His cheeks were hollow, giving his shadow hidden face the illusion of a skull-like appearance. He looked as if he had aged years since the last time she saw him, but it was his eyes that shocked her. 'His eyes' she thought. They say that the eyes are the window to the soul, but there was nothing that she could see in those windows. They were wild, untamed. Similar to the eyes of people she had already seen fall to madness. She held we gun steady, but at this point was unsure that she would be able to do the simple motion if pulling the trigger. Physically it would be easy, but mentally she knew it was hard to do. Flick a single switch, and know the person you pointed at was a goner. That they wouldn't come back. "Nat!" she heard Mal say over her walkie-talkie "did you find anything?".<br>"Shut it off" said Shawn suddenly.  
>"You're not in control here". Then he did something she had never seen him do, a clearly nervous gesture. He was wringing his hands, clearly distressed. "Nat? Can you hear me?". Natara did as she was told, not wanting to push him in this emotional state. Mal's voice ended as she flicked the switch. She was alone for this.<br>"Lock the door" he commanded. She slowly walked to to door, and noticed now that Shawn had a gun. It had been lowered, but as she neared the door he raised it at her. She did as she was told, her first instinct to do what he said. She was determined to bring him in alive, and until she thought of a plan of action she needed to stall.  
>"I want answers Shawn, how did you survive?" she said confidently. She thought she was trying to provoke fear in her, and if she remained calm he wouldn't kill her until he got what he wanted.<br>"I have have my ways" he said elusively "And some help from 'other's'".  
>"And by 'other's' you mean Genevieve" she said. Something shifted in him as she said that name, his speech became forced and strained. He ran a nervous hand through his short hair, clearly unnerved.<br>"She…she was using me…wanted you…" he said. Natara only listened. "…I got away…but I had to tell you…".  
>"Tell me what?" she said. Suddenly she realized, each message, each 'gift'. They were Genevieve's idea, up until a point. The ones that seemed controlled and perfect, they were her doing. The arrow must have been when he started to break away, and was a desperate cry for help.<em> 'Hunting is not a game…To see if it will break…I can tell I am messing with your head…There's nowhere to run…'.<em>  
>"You were trying to protect me, to warn me. Genevieve was trying to send me a message, and so where you." she finally said. There was a moment, a split second where a trace of the old Shawn seemed to come back. Then it was gone.<br>"And you needed to get my attention, get everyones attention so someone would figure it out" she said. "You didn't kill that girl, not willingly. It wasn't you, Genevieve manipulated you". A sudden noise startled her, someone was pounding at the door. "Natara! Are you in there?". This seemed to agitate Shawn, and he began to pace like a lion in a cage. 'Do not open until the time is right'. She had forgotten about the note until now. She quickly pulled it out, quietly opening it so not to attract Shawn's attention. With a shaking hand she pulled out a single piece of paper, and written in an untidy scrawl were the words:  
><em>'Finish it'.<em>  
>At that point she knew Shawn was long gone, had died long before Genevieve had fished him out of the sea and patched him up. That he had truly died before he had even fallen into the water. In one of his few moments of sanity, he had written this. He didn't want to hurt anyone again, and wanted to be free. He didn't want her to know until just before, or else she might back out and try and save him, and he was to far gone. She knew what she had to do. "Shawn" she called again. He looked up, and Natara knew she wouldn't be able to do it if he was looking at her like that, despite the fact he has asked for it. She raised her gun, not planning to shoot until he made the first move. Some kind of instinct, one that was almost animal-like, seemed to take over. He charged at her, and when he did was when Natara fired. Once, twice, three times. He fell to the ground in a heap, three bullets embedded in his chest. He was dead before he hit the floor, and as if on cue Mal finally broke the lock on the door, bursting onto the roof. "Nat! Are you okay? I heard-". But he stopped when he saw Shawn. When he saw Natara once again walking away.<p> 


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm rather glad to hear Fanfiction wasn't working for anyone else either (well not the fact that is wasn't working). I was just like 'Oh my God...SOPA!' when it wasn't working and started panicking!**

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><p>Natara waited an hour until a boat that did not contain Mal came, so she could go back. There were others coming, officers and people to clean up the scene. 'Clean up' she thought, and those words sickened her. Mal watched her as he went on the first boat, expecting her to come. In truth she didn't think she could face him right now, because Mal would ask questions. Questions she couldn't answer right now, for she wasn't ready to relive what had happened in the last few hours. Amy texted her, beginning to say she had heard what happened and how sorry she was. What she didn't know was that Shawn was trying to save her, that he asked for what happened. At the end of the extremely long text she said her hotel room was cleared, and she could go back. Natara let out a breath of relief when she saw this, becaaue what she really needed now was to be alone, to not think about what she just did. 'This is what he wanted' she reminded herself, so the death grip guilt had on her heart lessened. So she could actually breath. She sat, unnoticed, on the ride back. She stayed in the corner, trying to go undetected. It worked, and she was already half-way off the boat when it pulled into the docks, trying to escape the crushing awkwardness. As if things couldn't get any worse, it began to rain. It wasn't unexpected, the sky had been threatening to do so for a while. She spotted Captain Yeong listening to Mal, who was talking animatedly. Both of them stopped talking to look at her, and for a second Captain Yeong looked like she was going to walk over. Then Mal said something, and she nodded. He turned and waved for her to go, so she knew she wouldn't be questioned tonight. It was times like these that she really appreciated having a partner like Mal, who knew her enough to know she needed to be alone. She summoned a taxi, which she was lucky enough to find driving by, and got in. It drove her home, and she simply sat, cold and emotionless, in the back. 'Shouldn't I feel something?' she thought 'Anything?'. But she did not. She had expected emotions to come crashing down, the world to spin around her. There was nothing there, and it was as if she had forgotten how to feel sad, angry or anything. She was dropped off at her hotel building, and paid the driver with some fairly damp bills. Practically dragging herself to her room, she put dry clothes and crawled onto bed, forgetting how much she missed her somewhat familiar bed. She felt emotionally drained, and felt her body instantly relax as her eyes got heavier and she fell asleep. The first real amount of sleep she had ever had since this all began.<p>

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><p><em>"Shawn?" she called. It was that night again, when Mal had nearly killed Shawn. They were fighting, but this time Shawn was winning. "No! Stop it! Mal, stop!". <em>  
><em>There was an earsplitting crack, and Mal lay dead in the ground. <em>  
><em>"Mal!" she yelled out to her fallen partner. 'He's not dead, he can't be, he couldn't be…<em>  
><em>"Mal!" the roof was gone, the sound of wind and the rain replaced by blank nothingness, a never-ending tunnel. She fought to run to her partner, but something was holding her back. Shawn had somehow gotten behind her and was holding her arm. "Let go!" she yelled, trying to pry his bony fingers from her arm. Suddenly she had a gun in her hand, and it seemed she wasn't in control of her action. She reached up and shot him. once in the head. He didn't crumple as he had before, but said quietly "You-you shot me". <em>  
><em>"I didn't have a choice, he was going to kill the baby!". She said. She was back in that house in the sweltering Miami heat, the wail of a infant nearby. Her shoulder burned with intense pain, but she only had eyes for her fallen partner. "No! Don't close your eyes!" she was screaming at him. The room was gone, replaced once again by the roof of Alcatraz Island. Shawn was replaced by Mal. It was just after Eric shot him, and part of her knew he shouldn't die here, that this wasn't how she saw it now. Here he was pale and cold. His face calm and cool in death, he was completely motionless…<em>

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><p>"No!". She woke with a start, realizing she had screamed the last time for real. Her breathing was sharp and heavy, each gulping breath like a cold drink. Suddenly there was a knock at her front door, making her jump.<br>"Nat?" Mal's voice called "Nat, are you in there? We need to talk". She froze for a moment, tempted to pretend she wasn't home. But she knew Mal would worry, and wouldn't simply leave her alone. She couldn't blame him, he deserved answers.


	13. Chapter 13

**Again, I couldn't find a poem. This is a song by Andrew Lloyd Webbed, who wrote it for 'The Phantom if the Opera'. Shout out to ballrr13, who motivated me to update sooner than planned (thanks for giving me more work…lol jk, just glad people actually like this).**

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><p>"Nat! I know you're in there!". Mal's voice echoed. She knew he would be the easiest person to confide in, but that didn't mean it wouldn't be hard. She closed her eyes for a moment, remembering the gaunt face of her long-gone companion once more. Trying to think how this even got started. How it all came back to her. 'If I hadn't shot him that day, had let the man shoot the baby, he would still be alive' she thought.<br>'But would you be able to live with yourself? Knowing that you caused that?' another voice questioned her. She knew the answer was no, she wouldn't be able to sit back and watch an unknown child die. That she did the right thing, and Shawn had even told her so. But it still nagged at her, that this could all be her fault. She got up, ignoring the flying accusations in her own mind. She opened the door slowly, as if not to take Mal in all at once. She could already feel the tears coming, but tried so hard not to cry. She never cried, sadness was always something she felt should be bottled up until you were in privacy. Tears something that shouldn't be seen by anyone. "Nat…" he said softly, seeing the tears welling in her eyes.  
>"I'm fine" she said before he could even ask. She blinked away the tears, but knew her voice still shook. "What do you want?".<br>"There's something you need to see. I couldn't bring it with me, but Amy's keeping it safe". And so that was how she got to the station, how she stood near the evidence locker alone with Mal. He wordlessly handed her a evidence bag, which she took and examined. It was another mask, but a more festive one. One that you might see at Mardi Gras party. A sudden memory, one that had been long forgotten came forward. She was with Shawn, a few days before she had shot him. People were celebrating in the street, while she and him were looking around. Shawn became annoyed by the mask-wearing attendees to the parade.  
>"<em>It's distracting<em>" he had said "_And I don't like it. It's harder to tell if someones lying if you can't see their eyes. You can tell so much from just looking into someones eyes_".  
>"<em>They're just having fun!"<em> she had said "_It's a culturally rich tradition!_".  
>"<em>True, but anyone could be hiding under a mask. Our suspect could be just over in that crowd and we wouldn't even know it…<em>".  
>Then that conversation had ended, trailing off to other things. Natara finally looked over the small thing in it's bag, turning it over. On the back was another note, one that read one last message. Not one warning of danger or even a threat. But an unclear one all the same.<p>

_'Masquerade, paper faces on parade. _  
><em>Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.'<em>

Shawn had been lost, and would never be found again. But he was free, and that was all he had asked for. It was a choice: be lost and free, or trapped and found. He had chosen the former. Only two words came to mind when she saw this, and those words were in Shawn's voice. '_Thank you'_.  
>"Nat?" said Mal. "You okay?". She nodded, but once again thought she was going to cry. "We found this on the roof, on the ledge. Guess he ended up completely insane in the end".<br>She shook her head "No, he was trying to protect me. He was trying to warn me".  
>Mal seemed confused "What are you talking about?".<br>She looked at him seriously "they were messages Mal, Genevieve was using him. He was trying to warn me of something".  
>Mal gave her a look, one of pity. It angered her. "I'm serious!" she said.<br>"I didn't say you weren't".  
>"Then stop looking at me like that!".<br>"Like what? Look Natara, I know what I saw last time we confronted Shawn. He was going to kill you! Does that sound like someone who wanted to protect you?".  
>Natara sighed "He wasn't in his right mind when that happened!".<br>"And last night was?". Natara looked down at her shoes. "Look Nat, it was only last night that all this happened. Maybe that's what you wanted to happen. It was so sudden, I understand if your a little confu-".  
>"I am not confused!" she almost yelled, very much hurt that Mal didn't believe her. If he didn't, who would? "But you know what? If you're not going to believe me, then this conversation is over!". She threw the bag back in the locker, quickly walking away. She was already half-way out the door before Mal took in what she had said.<br>"Nat…" he called after her, but was was already almost at the top of the stairs. She was out the front doors before she heard him follow behind her, already crossing the street and lost in the crowd when he caught up. She watched as he scanned the crowd for her, finally giving up and going back inside. It was raining again, but Natara didn't mind as she walked home. Rain made your face wet, making it harder to tell that she was crying. That was the nice thing about rain.

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><p><strong>I apologize for my recent spelling<strong> **mistakes, I type on my ipod and recently had to disable auto-correct. It crossed the line about a week or two ago. I typed 'Mal' and it auto-corrected to 'Oscar'. I refuse to use it now, especially since my friend texted me the other day, saying they had to put their horse to sleep. I typed 'awwww' and when it sent it corrected to 'cool'. I had a _lot_ of explaining to do...**


	14. Chapter 14

Natara hated the tears that came. They weren't sorrowful or angry, they were empty. There was no emotion attached to them, and she concluded that she had no right to be crying. She tried to stop, but it only made it worse. She sped back to her room, throwing herself on her couch to hide her face from the world. A minute later her cell phone rang, but she ignored it. She was beyond caring what anyone had to say. If no one believed that Shawn wasn't just some messed up former agent, she didn't know what she would do. Maybe try and figure out exactly what he was trying to warn her about, but would it even matter? If no one believed her, why would they trust a message a mentally insane person sent? She cried until their was nothing left, until she gasped for air and tears no longer came. That was it, she had paid Shawn her tears. That was all the more she would let herself cry. She got up and went to the bathroom, cleaning away the evidence her tears had left. Her eyes were still red and her cheeks were still puffy afterwards, but it was the best she could do. Walking back to her living room, she sat down and curled up on the couch, exhausted from the effort of crying. She heard her phone recieve several texts, but didn't even check to see who it was. 'Shawn Mallory was trying to save my life, and I didn't even get to say goodbye…' was the only thing running though her head. Very suddenly she got up, knowing what she had to do.

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><p>Mal sat at his computer, quickly bringing up google. In the search bar, he typed 'The stages of grief'. He clicked on the first link that came up, reading the section on denial.<br>_'The first reaction to learning of terminal illness or death of a cherished loved one is to deny the reality of the situation. It is a normal reaction to rationalize overwhelming emotions. It is a defense mechanism that buffers the immediate shock. We block out the words and hide from the facts. This is a temporary response that carries us through the first wave of pain.'_  
>'It fits Natara perfectly' he thought. He sighed with relief, glad that her crazy explanations of Shawn's actions were natural. He got up, knowing where he was about to go. He would hear her out, but would remain firm that she Shawn she knew she long gone. <p>


	15. Chapter 15

She took the bus to avoid walking in the rain, and had a small notebook which she wrote in the entire time. From memory, she wrote down every poem. She underlined what she thought was Shawn's message in blue, trying to figure out exactly what it meant. The bus stopped near the police station, and she tucked the notebook in her jacket to protect it from the rain. She very slowly walked in, unsure what she was going to do when she got in there. She had never been in the station's mourge, but knew where it was. That was where she was heading, and managed to sneak in unnoticed. She walked along the rows of the long gone, until she reached one with the words 'Mallory, Shawn'. She pulled the drawer open, pulling a away the sheet so she could see his face. He looked strange in death. Everyone said death was supposed to be peaceful, but this wasn't peaceful. The sheet still covered it, but she knew their were holes in his chest. There was a small trickle of blood on his chin, and his eyes were closed. She had never seen him like this, but was transfixed by how he looked with his glasses gone. He looked frail, vungerable. Like he was a child who needed taking care of. She knew he had been far from it, but without the glass obscuring his face this was how he looked. 'Maybe that was your mask, the one that hid your eyes' she thought.  
>"Miss? Can I help you?" said a loud voice. Natara whiped around, seeing a pretty brunette woman was standing in the doorway. "You're agent Williams, aren't you?" she asked.<br>Natara nodded "Sorry if I disturbed you, I just wanted to-" her voice cut off suddenly, but she sensed the woman knew what she waned to do.  
>"It's fine. I know saying goodbye can be difficult, especially considering…" she said, trailing off. She didn't need to complete that sentence, Natara knew what she was saying.<br>"I should go" she barely choked out. She rushed past the woman, hiding her face. She rushed out before anyone else could spot here, finding as she left the rain had stopped. She decided to walk home, and along the way she saw a wooden bench. She brushed the water away with her hand, sitting down and trying to find answers to Shawn's message.  
>"There you are!" said an unfamiliar voice. She looked up, seeing a large and unframiliar man talking to her.<br>"Sir, I thing you've mistaken me for-" but she was cut off when the man sat next to her. His hand in his jacket pocket, he pressed whatever was in the pocket to her side. He was holding a gun to her her, she knew it.  
>"<em>Don't do anything you'll regret<em>" he said in a low and threatening growl. Natara gulped. She was about to find out Shawn's message sooner than she thought.

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><p><strong>I may update again today, so check back soon!<strong>


	16. Chapter 16

"Natara! I know you're in there!" he yelled. He pounded at her door, trying to get her to open up. "Natara! I need to talk to you!". No response. In fact, he heard nothing from inside. Deciding maybe she had gone down to the station, he pulled out his phone and called Amy.  
>"Hello?" she answered cheerfully.<br>"Amy, is Natara down there?" he asked.  
>"No, not that I know of. Why would she be? Captain Yeong gave her a few day off didn't she? Why, can't you find her?".<br>"If I knew where she was would I be asking you?" he asked.  
>"No, I guess not. I haven't seen her though. Let me ask Kai and Ken, they're both here". There was a moment in which her voice was farther away, and Mal thought she heard her ask 'Have either of you seen Natara lately?'. She heard two different responses, but couldn't hear what they were. "Ken said he saw her almost sprinting out the doors earlier".<br>"How long ago?". Amy repeated the question in the distance.  
>"He said about an hour or two ago, that she looked pretty upset but was gone before he could say something to her".<br>"Thanks Ames, I'll call back when I find her". He hung up, sticking his phone back in his pocket. Where was she? He couldn't even begin to think where she could have gone. On a walk maybe? That seemed plausible, it had stopped raining about an hour ago. Maybe she went to clear her head, or even to avoid him. He felt horrible for his words before, and had to remind himself that he had done nothing wrong. 'She just went through a huge shock, I could have been more sensitive' he thought. 'I'll apologize the next time I see her, it's not like I'll never see her again. She has to come to work sometime, she can't avoid this forever'.

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><p>Natara froze for a moment as the man pressed the gun harder into her side, whispering "I am going to call a taxi. You are going to pretend that we are friends. If you say anything, or try and communicate to anybody, I will shoot you. I will shoot the driver, and kill any man, woman and child within range of us. Got it?". She nodded, and thought how very well planned out this was. She might be ready to risk her own life, but wasn't ready to risk innocent bystanders. "Put your gun and phone into my hand, slowly" he said.<br>"I don't have my gun" she said calmly.  
>"Don't lie!".<br>"I really don't" she responded "I'm off duty, and I don't carry it with me normally".  
>"Then give me your phone". She slowly reached in her pocket, enclosing her fingers on the only thing that could be used to communicate to the rest of the world. Why hadn't she responded to Mal's texts and calls, saying where she was going?<br>"Hand it over, I know you have it. I could see it in your pocket earlier". Slightly taken back that she was being followed this closely that he knew this, but she hadn't even noticed him, she pulled it out and set it on the bench. The man took it and quickly dropped into a nearby rain grate. She heard it splash as it hit the water from the excess rain below.  
>"That should keep them busy for a while, even if they try and trace it. You made the smart choice lady. Now get up. I'm going to let you walk a little farther away so we don't look suspicious, but remember my promise". She did as she was told, getting up very slowly. She was lead to the side of the street, where the man called a nearby taxi. He waited for her to get in first, leering at her threateningly. Then, just before she knelt down to get in, she swore she saw Mal in a passing crowd on the other side of the street, going towards the station. He was so close, but Natara knew there was no way she could communicate to him whatsoever. She let him go, looking away from one of her last traces of hope as she crawled in.<p> 


	17. Chapter 17

Something wasn't right. Natara hadn't been in contact with him, Amy or anyone. At first he figured she was isolating herself, but when she had heard nothing from her since Ken said she left he began to worry. It was now three hours since Ken said she left, and there was no trace of her anywhere. He called Amy, asking if she had seen trace of Natara. She said she hadn't seen her, but Lily had.  
>"Who the heck is Lily?" he asked.<br>"Sorry, you might know her by Dr. Wells? She runs the stations morgue".  
>"Well that's never been established. What'd she say?".<br>Amy seemed to fidget a little, unsure what to say. "She said Natara was…saying goodbye" she said. Mal ignored this bit of information for the time being.  
>"And…" he said, waiting for her to continue.<br>"And nothing. She said she left, looking rather upset".  
>Mal sighed, hoping he didn't cause her more distress by not believing her. That he didn't cause her wreck of an emotional state.<br>"Did she tell you about why she thinks Shawn did this?".  
>"No, what did she say?".<br>"Look, I'm heading down there. I better explain this to you, and it might take awhile". After a while Mal began to walk to the station, seeing as he didn't have a car for the time being. Eventually he got to the station, and he thought how odd if felt without her walking with him. Entering, he headed down to the crime lab. Ken had obviously left, but Kai was 'working' on a computer. Mal had a feeling, considering he was hunched over in an attempt to hide the screen, that he was playing some sort of game. A pretty brunette woman was taking with Amy, and Mal only somewhat recognized her. He didn't remember ever having a conversation with the woman, but could remember his first impression of her. With her unearthly pallor, pale lips and long dark hair, she looked like a drowned woman. This immediate impression was only enhanced by the fact her last name was 'Wells'. Walking over to the two women, she saw Amy with her usual smile and Lily with a ghost of a frown. This expression only made her look more like a corpse. "You were the one who saw Natara last?" he asked.  
>Lily nodded. "She seemed very upset, understandable of course".<br>"Mal" Amy interrupted "I think Natara's been taken".  
>"What makes you say that?" he asked.<br>"Ken dropped this off, you just missed him. He said he thought he saw Natara as he was leaving, sitting on a bench and talking to a man. But by the time he went over to check it out she was gone. This was sitting on the bench" said said, holding up a small object in her hand.  
>Mal took it and examined it. "How do you know it's her's?".<p>

* * *

><p>Natara could see the chocolate-brown haired head among the crowd. For a second she thought it was too much, that she was to overwhelmed after everything that happened. That she needed something, anything to give her hope. Then she realized something. She had to looked out the window to make sure this miracle had really happened. Yes, it had. She had left her notebook on the bench. Maybe Mal would find it, know that there she was taken. For a wild second she smiled, overcome by hope that Mal would find it and know.<br>"What are you smiling about?" said the man. His voice was clearly fake-friendly, but Natara could hear the threatening edge to it.  
>"Nothing, <em>pal<em>" she said, putting particular emphasis on the word 'pal'.


	18. Chapter 18

Mal flipped through the notebook, looking at what she had written for any clues about her whereabouts. They were all the poems, obviously written from memory judging from small errors, only some of them where underlined with blue. None of the first two, from the first mask or teacup. All the ones after though had one line underlined, except the one from the second mask, which was entirely underlined.  
><em>'So take my advise and play it safe. Hunting is not a game. To see if it will break. I can tell I am messing with your head. There's nowhere to run. Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.'<em>  
>This was all she had underlined, and Mal couldn't figure out the significance to those particular lines, why they alone were underlined.<br>"Still trying to figure it out?" said a faint and almost ghostly voice. Mal jumped from his seat in the corner of the crime lab and turned. Lily was standing behind him.  
>"You're here late, it's almost nine o'clock".<br>She gave him a ghost of a smile. "It's been nearly five hours since agent Williams has been seen, figured I'd stick around since I was the last person to see her." she bent over his shoulder, peering at the notebook. "Find anything yet?".  
>He shook his head "I don't understand why she underlined them individually, they don't make sense".<br>She leaned over him, looking over the paper with her deeply sunken rounded eyes. "Look at what the poems mean, not what they simply say on the paper. Don't look at them separately. Try putting them together, make them one big message. She obviously was trying to say something or she wouldn't have written it". Without another word she walked away, not appearing to be going in any particular direction before she headed up the stairs. She was an odd sort of person, but Mal thought she might be right. He grabbed a spare piece of scrap paper, copying down what she has wrote.  
><em>'So take my advise and play it safe. Hunting is not a game. To see if it will break. I can tell I am messing with your head. There's nowhere to run. Masquerade, paper faces on parade. Masquerade, hide your face so the world will never find you.'<em>  
><em>'Be careful'<em> he wrote first. He skipped 'Hunting is not a game', thinking he would come back to it._ 'Somethings broken?'_ he wrote, putting a question mark after it. He would come back to that one. For 'I can tell I am messing with your head' he wrote _'I know I'm freaking you out?'_, again with a question mark. For 'Theres nowhere to run' he wrote _'you can't escape?_' again in question. He looked what he had written so far:  
>Be careful. Hunting is not a game. Somethings broken? I know I'm freaking you out? You can't escape?<br>He flipped back to the last page that was written on, where the whole poem was underlined. 'What does it mean?' he thought. Only one word came to mind when he saw this, and suddenly it all made sense. Natara was telling the truth, Shawn was trying to protect her.  
><em>'Be careful, their after you. They will break you this time. I know you have no reason to, but I need you to trust me. There is nowhere to run, you need to hide.'<em>


	19. Chapter 19

The man eventually told the driver to stop just as they reached the outskirts of San Francisco. He paid the man to avoid suspicion, keeping sight of Natara as they got out. He waited until the taxi pulled away until he gave a quick glance around, making sure no one was out in the streets. It was fairly dark, and in this part of the city the streets were empty. "Move" she said suddenly, grabbing the upper part of her arm and roughly shoving her forward. He pushed her towards a dark vehicle, instructing her to get in. She could see movement in the back, and knew it was likely here were others to get her to her destination along as well.  
>"Why didn't you just use your car, why call a cab?" she asked, stalling for time until she could determine it would be worth the risk to make a move now.<br>"Do you really think I'm that stupid? Someone could have seen my license plate. Now quit stalling and get in". He jabbed the gun into a spot in her spine, just above the small of her back. It sent a wave of pain down her back. She didn't let it show on her face though, and remained standing outside the door.  
>"And if I refuse?" for a second the man looked taken back. "I know Genevieve sent you. She obviously needs me for something, and you can kill me or you won't get paid".<br>The man leered at her evilly. "True, we can't kill you". He leaned forward, almost whispering in her ear "but would anyone blame me if the product got a little damaged along the way, as long as it still works fine?".

* * *

><p>It was getting late, and Mal wasn't surprised when Amy told him to go home.<br>"We don't even know if she's in trouble. She could have gone for a walk and forgotten her book along the way". Amy bit her lip, and Mal knew she didn't think that was true.  
>"But she was right, Shawn <em>was<em> trying to warn her of something. If I had only believed her sooner-"  
>Amy looked at him with widened eyes. "We don't even know if anything wrong. Maybe you can tell her that you believe her in the morning. It's not like her to miss work several days in a row, even after with what she's been through. She'll most likely be here tomorrow".<br>"And if she's not here in the morning?".  
>Amy bit her lip worriedly. "Then the twenty-four hours you're supposed to wait will be up. Then we'll start looking for her. There might not be anything wrong". Mal nodded, but hated this idea. By morning Natara could be long gone, dead even. She could be spending her last few hours of her life right now, and there was nothing he could do about it. All he could say now was "I'll drop by her hotel building on my way home, make sure she hasn't gone back".<p> 


	20. Chapter 20

Natara wasn't at home. Not in that night when Mal checked, nor the next morning. He texted and called several times, but it only said her phone had been disconnected. That morning he went down to the station, hoping that she would be there. Part of him seemed to know it even before Amy gave him a worried glance as he came down to ask if she had seen her. Even before Ken greeted him by saying they were filing it as a missing persons report. Even before Amy said her cell phone had been disconnected and she couldn't trace it. After all that all Mal could find himself doing was looking at her notebook. The way she made loops at the end of her 'g's and made a slight swirl at the end of her 'T's. The way you cold see how she drew her hand across the page because she hooked her hand like a left handed person, but wrote with her right. Knowing at one point Natara had placed her warm hand on a page, writing out a message that was to her.  
>"Shawn was trying to tell her to hide" he said to Amy later "And if I would have believed her, maybe we could have hidden her. Maybe I would know she was okay".<br>Amy looked over his shoulder where he looked at the page. "It wouldn't have mattered" she said "Natara wasn't the kind if person who would have sat idly by in some safe house. She would have simply used the information to know what was coming. So she knew what she was fighting".

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><p>"She's a pretty one" jeered one of the few men in the back. "What do ya think Genevieve wants with this one?".<br>The man who was driving didn't respond, but remained silent. Natara ignored the man also, knowing he was trying to see if she would react. She kept her head high, showing no emotion. They remained like that for what seemed like hours. When Natara looked at the clock she saw it was nearly two in the morning when they stopped.  
>"Jared, get out first, make sure this one doesn't try anything". The man directly in behind her, the silent one, got out. Her door was suddenly opened, and Natara got out very slowly. The man grabbed the back of her collar, hard. It was tight around her neck, but not so tight that she couldn't breathe. For a minute she thought maybe she could fight him before the other came out, but he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking and shoved his gun aggressively in her back. "Don't even try anything. I'm not the only one pointing a gun at you". Natara looked around and saw the man, 'Jared', was right. Two guards were waiting outside a fairly large building. She heard the car doors beside her open and close, and at least two other sets of footsteps come closer. She was unable to turn her head because of the tightness of the man's grip, and hated not knowing what was coming.<br>"Alright, let's get her inside. According to Genevieve she's a fighter" said the man who was driving.  
>"This one?" said the rather skinnier one, who had jeered at her earlier. She could see him out of the corner of her eye. He had a mean, hungry look. "This ones the one that's been givin' her trouble?". He snickered at his own feeble joke.<br>"Watch it" said the man holding her collar, who was pushing her inside. "You heard the rumors about what this one and her little friend did the last time this happened. Genevieve's right hand man! Nearly beaten to death and shot right in the heart! I don't want no trouble, we'll be droppin' her off. No questions asked, and stay away. I don't want nothing to do with this one, she looks like trouble". The others fell silent, and Natara was lead past the two men guarding the front door and into the building. The skinnier, jeering man opened to door, and the one holding her collar shoved her in. He released his grip on her collar, finally allowing Natara to look around. Her eyes scanned the room for a moment, finally resting on the woman before her.  
>"You!" she said in surprise. She knew who must have been the one to want her here, but seeing the face that sparked so much hatred again was never pleasant.<br>"Hello" said Genevieve sweetly, calmly and somewhat harshly "Nice to see you again too".


	21. Chapter 21

**Review replies: **

**MaltaraFluff647:**  
><strong>Thanks! That means a lot! I love coming up with different codes, their great for passing notes you don't want others to read, as I do not own a cell phone to simply text people. Thanks for the review! <strong>

**mozzi-girl:**  
><strong>To be honest, I disliked how Shawn got in the way of Mal and Natara. I adore his character though, how as the episodes go by you can slowly see him degrading into madness before he meets Genevieve if you look carefully. He's such a well thought-out, complex character, I forget sometimes that he's not real. I don't believe that he was in his right mind when he said his famous "I win" (which I love for some reason) line, or when he was trying to kill Natara. I adore characters like him, who are seemingly bad but have a small trace of good in them. Or have something that make them the way they are, a backstory that evokes pity. It pushes and pulls at your emotions so you don't entirely hate or entirely love them. Shawn is one of my favorite characters, and would love it if he were alive. Thanks so much! <strong>

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><p>"What do you want?" Natara spat at the old woman "If you think I'll break this time forget it. Especially after what you did did to Shawn!".<br>She merely smiled. "So I take it my little messages struck a nerve then? I thought they would, especially if Shawn delivered them. Such a good boy, such a shame he's dead".  
>Anger rose in Natara, she could feel her face flush with rage. "Shawn was not your lapdog! He isn't yours, he broke away from you! Don't you see?" she said, almost screaming. "He was trying to protect me! And you manipulated him until he was begging me to-" she stopped for a moment, her voice briefly breaking. "To kill him!" she finally finished.<br>Genevieve's face sharpened, turning cold and emotionless. "Tell yourself whatever you need to escape the guilt, but you know it's a lie. Shawn was loyal to me. You killed him to save your own life".  
>Natara felt the sharp pain coming from digging her nails into her palm. She wanted nothing more than to claw at the serene face of Genevieve, but knew she would be signing her own death warrant if she did so.<br>"I know what you're doing, your trying to manipulate me while I'm in what you think is some 'defenseless, emotional' state. Don't think for one moment I'm going to fall for it!".  
>Genevieve's face turned darker, grimmer. "Very well, you've given me no choice. I didn't want to do this" she got up very quickly, and for a minute she thought she was about to be attacked. She pointed to a nearby grandfather clock in the corner. "I'm giving you twelve hours to choose. I tire of watching you round up my children like sheep, you and that little partner of yours. I've decided it wouldn't be wise to allow you to walk free, and so you much choose. In twelve hours you will either decide to join me, or you will be killed". She walked to the nearest door, telling the man at the door "Don't allow her to leave this room. Watch her closely". She opened to door, and just before she exited she hissed back at her "Twelve hours left…".<p>

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><p><strong>Sorry it's so very short...<strong>


	22. Chapter 22

Eleven hours left. Natara began testing how lenient the guard watching her. She tapped her fingers to see if he would tell her to stop. He didn't. She paced, at first only staying in his line of vision. He didn't seem to mind, and Natara slowly began pacing farther and farther away from his vision line. She walked the perimeter of the room, even in the little nook where the grandfather clock was. He didn't respond, but pulled up a chair from the table Genevieve was sitting and sat where he could see both the door that Genevieve had exited out, and the front door. They were both obviously locked, or he wouldn't be so careless. These appeared to be the only exits out of the room. As she paced she took inventory of what was in the room, looking for anything that could be used to escape. She came up with nothing, but kept looking all the same. _'A thermostat for the electric heat. A table with a cloth covering it. A grandfather clock. Two chairs, not counting the one that the guard is sitting on. My hotel card-key, in my back pocket.'_. She checked in her jacket pocket to see if she still had her pen. The black one she had been writing with must have fallen out, but the blue one she was using to underline in her notebook was still there. _'A blue ballpoint pen_' she added to her mental list.  
>Ten hours left. Ideas began forming, ideas Natara was not proud of. 'Maybe I should tell her I'll join her, but lie' she thought 'I could pretend to be with her, and get away as soon as I can. I'm not so weak that I'd join her for real'. She pushed this idea away immediately. 'But Shawn wasn't weak, and I'm sure he had thoughts like these too. Look where it landed him'. She glanced at the guard, making sure he was still awake. 'If I could distract the guard, or even make him doze off for a few seconds, I could pick the lock, find a weapon to get past the guards and get away'. A memory of being in high school immediately came to mind. Feeling her eyes grow heavy because of the warmth that emanated from the nearby heater. Her teacher slapping his ruler on her desk, calling her out of the sleepy haze she and her classmates were in. Her teacher angrily adjusting the thermostat so it was too cold to rest…<br>_'The thermostat!'_. To avoid suspicion she kept her pace normal, finally reaching the little nook where the thermostat was squeezed next to the clock. 'I need to do this carefully, so he doesn't realize how hot it suddenly gets'. She pushed the up button, turning it up one degree. Seventy-two degrees Fahrenheit. She began pacing again so the man wouldn't think she was doing anything suspicious. She glanced at the clock, nine hours left.

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><p>Mal looked up at the clock, surprised to see it was eight already. They'd been trying to get a location on Natara for an hour already, since he had arrived. He could see out the window where someone was looking at the bench where Ken had found the book. He couldn't see who it was, for the hood of their jacket was up to protect them from the cold outside. From the feminine blue color of the jacket and the persons slight frame, he guessed Amy. It was the coldest day in San Francisco in years, and the news that morning said if they got any form of precipitation it was cold enough to be snow. The news said nothing about missing persons, the world did not yet know Natara was lost. Captain Yeong had said, considering recent events, it would be unwise to disclose such information. That whoever took her was most likely waiting to see when they began looking for her, so they knew if she had to be moved. They still didn't know who could have taken her. Mal suggested Genevieve, but that idea was shot down immediately for lack of evidence. Mal had a feeling it was her though, and kept trying to find where Genevieve might be. As he was pouring all his time into that, he just hoped he was right.<p> 


	23. Chapter 23

Natara glanced at the clock. It was already eight o'clock in the morning. She knew Mal would be at work now, and she should be too. Was he looking for her? Did he even know she had been taken? Maybe he hadn't found the book, maybe her last piece of hope was thrown in the garbage. Even though she had just done so, she glanced worriedly at the clock. Her time was half-gone, six hours left. As she passed she hit the thermostat button again, the highlight of her next ten minutes. She would walk around the room, every few laps hitting the up button. It was working, the temperature had just reached 80 degrees Fahrenheit. She knew it would be unwise to increase the heat any more, and simply paced. She focused on keeping her footsteps light and rhythmic, not making any noises to attract the attention of the guard. She could see he was leaning forward, his elbow on his knee and his cheek in his hand. She began studying the locks as she passed, looking for the best way to pick them. The door Genevieve had used was a simple lock, seemingly with a button on the other side. It would be easy to pick, though she suspected she could get lost in a laberyth attempting to locate an exit, and decided against finding an alternative way out. She focused on the one that lead to outside. It looked like a simple lock, not appearing to have a deadbolt. 'I should be able to pick that with my card-key' she thought. 'Now to find a weapon, I'm sure the guards will still be outside. I might need to fight my way out'. There was nothing else around, and nothing in there could be used as a weapon. It didn't necessarily need to be a _good_ weapon, just something she could threaten them with to get away. She glanced over, where the guard looked like he was about to doze off. Her eyes drifted to the grandfather clock, eyeing the weights behind the glass door. 'If I could just get one off with the chain attached, I could hit someone with it if necessary. I'm not about to go bludgeoning someone with it, but it's better than nothing'. She glanced once more to the guard, who was slowly nodding off. 'Its now or never'. She walked over, opening the door and taking her ballpoint pen out if her pocket. She jammed the end inside one of the metal rings, pushing up at a sharp angle. The metal ring opened the slightest amount, and she took the weight off with about two feet of chain left. Making sure to pull the part still attached to the clock and hooking it to another chain so it didn't shoot up, she closed the door and placed the pen back in her pocket. Checking to make sure the guard was asleep, she pulled out her room card. She placed it just above the point where the lock started, holding her 'weapon' in her other hand hand. Surely the lock would click, alerting the guards. That would mean she had to fight her way out, which she was more than ready to do at this point. She pushed the card down, hearing a sharp click that did not wake the guard behind her.

**Sorry it's so short, I plan to update again in a few hours.**


	24. Chapter 24

It was almost as if she could hear bodies tense as she unlocked the door. She knew she had a few seconds to gain some distance, as they wouldn't be expecting their prisoner to come bursting through the door. She positioned herself in a way that she could exit as soon as the door opened, standing right where it opened. She quickly threw the door open, not even looking back as she ran a few feet away from the doorway. She turned around, swinging the weight on the chain like a mace and moving partially behind a nearby tree. The element of surprise had served her well, the two men had barely moved from shock before she turned around. The one that had been in the room with her had obviously fallen out of his chair from shock, and was now sprawled on the ground near the doorway. The two by the door got over the shock quickly, one upholstering his gun and the other already pointing it at her.  
>"Drop it!" he roared, indicating to the weight. Natara kept swinging it, even though the chain was too short to do anything. It was more for the threat factor than anything else. One of the men began to advance towards her slowly, clearly trying to get a clearer shot. Having no other choice, she threw her weapon at the nearest man. She knew it hit it's mark by the dull thud and a yell that followed, but didn't see it. She had already turned and ran, running in a serpentine pattern through the trees. One of them was obviously still pursuing behind her. She had a few close calls, bullets whizzing past her side or embedding itself in a nearby tree. None of them were shots to kill, only to immobilize. After a long while she knew it would be impossible to lose him, he was as fast as she was. Suddenly she tripped, her feet nearly falling out from under her. She stumbled closer to what appeared to be a large clearing, knowing she would be shot unless she zigzagged perfectly. Her throat burned with every sharp intake of breath, and she knew she wouldn't be able to run at this speed for much longer. Cold was burning her cheeks like an icy slap, her ears painfully numb. It was the kind of weather she knew from D.C., not the kind you experienced in California. She tried to make a sharp turn to get away from the clearing, but bushes and vines blocked the her on either side. If she tried to push her way through she would surely become hopelessly entangled, tripping over the thick foliage. Then she would surely be caught. Her only choice was to move forward, despite the lack of cover. What she longed for was the cover of darkness, so she wasn't so easy of a target. But it was eight o'clock in the morning! The sun had just rose, there was no hope of that. This was all she was thinking of, and had forgotten to keep under the cover of trees. She didn't even notice the lack of heavy footsteps behind her, nor the lack of gunfire. If she had, maybe she would have realized she was no longer being pursued, that the man had stopped. Maybe she would have figured out why he stopped a little sooner. She only managed to stop her momentum just in time, her toes hanging over the edge of the cliff before her. She looked down, a fifty foot drop was just below her feet. It ended in a crystal-clear lake, which looked like a small puddle from this height. It only took her a second to make her decision. Go back and be drug back to Genevieve, then be killed. Stay here for even a second too long and be shot in the back where she stood. Jump and risk the water being too shallow, experiencing what could be instant death. She jumped, dropping like a stone as she flew downwards in the icy cold air.<p>

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><p>"Mal" said Amy softly. Mal, who was looking over Natara's notebook for more clues, looked up. He knew he probably wasn't going to find much more in the notebook, that there was nothing there that he hadn't seen before. He couldn't help it though, and constantly looked at it as if it might change since the last time he saw it.<br>"What?" he said, trying to keep his voice from getting hopeful.  
>"We just got a call, about a disturbance. Apparently two hikers heard gunshots on their hiking trail. They called to complain, since it's illegal to hunt on the trail".<br>"So…?" he said, already getting frustrated at this useless bit of information.  
>"So they said they didn't hear any animals. In fact, since it's winter there shouldn't be a lot animals about. They were too far away and couldn't see anything, but they heard things. They heard a lot of gunshots and two sets of footfalls as they ran one way. They didn't hear them for a while, but when they came back their way again they only heard one person coming returning".<p> 


	25. Chapter 25

Natara plummeted down the cliff like a stone, pure terror in her heart in the few moments that she fell freely. The water embraced her roughly as she fell through the surface, and she shot to the bottom of the pool like a torpedo. The water was horribly freezing, immediately making her skin burn with cold. She opened her eyes underwater, but couldn't see anything farther that a foot in front of her. The water caused her eyes to burn, and she was forced to shut them again. Blindly, she groped for the cold air that she knew would lie above the surface. She tried so hard to reach up for it, but her foot had become entangled in a vine-like plant at the bottom. She pulled and pulled, but couldn't get free. She reached blindly at her bindings, her fingernails uselessly clawing at the thick plant. Her lungs began to constrict, trying to force her to take a breath. She opened her eyes once again. She couldn't see any light above her, she could barely even tell what was up and what was down. She knew she was about to drown, that she was going to die here. Only few thought ran thoughts were running through her oxygen-starved mind. 'I'm going to die here…'. She forced her eyes to stay open, seeing red was creeping in her vision. Her body was shuttering involuntarily, trying to force her to pull in non-existing air. She allowed her eyes, which were fading to black at this point, to close. 'Maybe dying won't be so bad...Maybe I'll see Shawn again. The old one'. As she thought this, she knew her body was beginning to give up, succumbing to both the extreme cold and the absence of air. She wondered if Mal would ever find her body. 'Mal…' she thought, thinking of her partner. 'I'm never going to see him again…he'll never stop looking for me...'. It was at this thought that she gave one last kick, using all the effort she could muster. Her foot came loose, and she reached desperately for the surface. She pulled herself up, opening her eyes and seeing the water above was slowly lightening. She focused on getting to the top, forcing her eyes to see out of what was becoming a narrow tunnel. Her fingers brushed air, feeling the cold wind that meant life. Her head broke the surface, and she took one large life-giving breath. Her vision began to re-focus, clearing instantly. She gasped for more air, grateful for each breath she took. The wind made her shiver, beating against her wet clothes and skin. She began to paddle to the edge, still gulping air. 'I won't do that to Mal, I won't leave him wondering.' she thought 'I _can't_ let him go through life like that'.

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><p><strong>Sorry it's so short. <strong>


	26. Chapter 26

"Let me go you pig!" roared the heavy-set man Ken was shoving towards the cluster of police cars. Mal, Ken and a small fleet of a few other officers had set out to where the hikers had been, stumbling upon a single very large building. They had driven most of the way, parking about a mile outside a wildlife reserve just outside of San Francisco. From there they had, much to Mal displeasure, separated and hiked around the area. Mal had located the large building with guards manning it a few hours ago, and had called for backup. Most of the others had met him about a half a mile away from the building, going in as a surprise. Together they had rounded up five guards, but knew several people had gotten away. A few people had hiked back and managed to squeeze that cars through the trees and back to them. Anna Wills and a few other had gone inside to look for clues about the whereabouts of the shooter or who he was being shot at.  
>"Guys? You might want to see this!" Anna called from the depths of the house. Mal followed her voice into the building, going through several rooms before she found where she was. She was standing in a glass-pained room, a small one. It was a miniature version of the first trophy room of Genevieve's they had found.<br>"Ah, hell…" Mal muttered "How many trophy rooms could this woman possibly have?".  
>"Do you think it's really her? Genevieve?" Anna asked. Mal didn't say anything, but gave her a look that obviously said: who-else-would-have-a-creepy-trophy-room-full-of-mutilated-body-parts?'. She studied what was behind the glass, finding it was much more crowed and dusty behind the window. Most of the objects were similar to what was in the first house, very similar. The word 'storage' came immediately to mind.<br>"Looks like we found everything that Genevieve didn't think was good enough to go on the fridge" said Mal. "Must be everything she didn't deem good enough to be displayed". He walked across the room, back out to the main room that was directly connected to the outside. Then he saw it, shoved in the corner and forgotten. He bent down and examined it, resisting the urge to pick it up so he didn't get his fingerprints on it for when Amy or Kai got here. It was a card, one that one would use to open a hotel room. Bending closer, he saw the number on the card was the same as Natara's room number. It was also from the same hotel. 'She's been here' he though. Suddenly he stormed out, where Ken was just about to shove the heavy-set man from earlier in a car. "Wait!" Mal said loudly across to him. Ken looked up, but Mal had already crossed the distance to him and had pinned the man up against the car. "There was a woman here earlier, where is she?" he asked harshly.  
>"What are you talkin' about?" he asked back.<br>"There was a woman here earlier. Tall, brown hair, dark eyes. Where is she?".  
>"Man…I don't know…".<br>"Yes you do know! You kidnapped her you son of a-".  
>"Mal!" said Ken, interrupting. "What in earth makes you think Natara's been here?".<br>Mal pointed for a second back to the building. "Her freaking room key is in there! How else could it have ended up here?". He turned his attention back to the man, grabbing him roughly by the collar. "What did you do to her?".  
>"Nothing! I swear!".<br>"I swear to God, if you _hurt_ her…".  
>"Last time I saw that chick was after she threw a freaking weight from the clock at me!". He pushed Mal's hands away and pulled his collar down a little, revealing a large and dark bruise just below his collar bone. "Then she ran towards the woods and Jared was chasing her near the cliff! Came back a half and hour later, and the girl wasn't with him! Said she jumped over the edge!".<br>"And where is 'Jared' now?" Mal asked angrily.  
>"Left me behind, he did! He and most of the others went about two miles south of here, probably on Genevieve's helicopter by now!". For a second he looked like wished he hadn't said this, but it was to late. The damage had been done. Mal let the man go, and Ken opened the squad car and pushed him in.<br>"We need to get a search party, now. It's too late to chase after Genevieve, but we need to find Natara before it gets dark. It's supposed to get really cold tonight. If she hasn't found shelter, she could die out here".


	27. Chapter 27

Natara pulled herself to the edge of the cold waters, sputtering. She didn't think she could possible be colder than she was in the water, but with the cold wind and her wet clothes she knew her body temperature was dropping quickly. It was colder that she could ever remember San Fransisco being, and knew it would only get worse of darkness fell. She walked to the edge of the tree line, so the thick trunks would break the wind a little bit. She quickly evaluated her situation, trying to recall any survival techniques that might help. She knew it was better to take off excess clothing if it was wet, and quickly removed her jacket. She flung it over a low-hanging tree branch to dry, doing the same with her water-heavy shoes and socks. She knew that you were always supposed stay in the same place where you got lost so you could be rescued, but threw that rule out the window as there were people she didn't want to be found by. She knew the next thing was to find a source of water, which she had, but didn't like staying where the guards knew she had landed. Besides, she knew it was unwise to drink from still water sources that you didn't at least boil, and at this point she wasn't ready to risk starting a fire. The smoke could attract unwanted beings. She walked to the edge of the water again, cold wind hitting her like an icy fist. She bent down to examine the water, realizing it was no wonder why she couldn't see even a foot in front of her face underwater. Sediments floated freely, and the water was green with algae. Slightly disgusted that she had been submerged in this repulsive liquid, she returned to her refuge in the trees line. 'If I could only boil the water I could drink it. It might not be _good_ water, but it would at least be clean'. She thought. She knew hydration was even more important in cold-weather situation, but eventually decided it wasn't worth the risk of being captured again. Grabbing her wet jacket and footwear, she withdrew into the thick tree line. Here the wind was gone, but she still shivered a great amount. After about an hour of stepping on what seemed like every sharp rock in the area, she stopped. She hadn't found a water source, but the sky was beginning to darken, and not from night. She would soon have a water source, but she needed to build a shelter, fast. She quickly decided on a debris hut, as she could see a tall tree stump and a rather large tree branch nearby. She slung her wet clothing once again on a nearby tree branch, hoping they would dry soon. Pushing aside the thick foliage around the stump, she cleared the area of rocks and began gathering other branches. She knew she would have to make it raised to avoid sleeping on wet or possibly even flooded ground. She placed the branches across the ground on one side of the stump, as if to made a small stage. An hour later she was rather satisfied with the floor-like platform she had made, and began on the structure of the shelter. She grabbed a rather large tree branch, which she had set aside since it was a lot larger than the others. She propped one end up on the top of the stump, which kept that end raised about a yard off the ground. She began grabbing more branches, propping them against the long branch that was already there. A while later a skeleton-like structure was the result. She then began picking up boughs, large and small, and making a pile. She began to prop them up against the outside branches, making what looked like the beginning to a large pile of wood. About half-way through thunder began, and Natara knew she would have to skip making the ventilation holes. As she placed the last few branches at the bottom of the pile, she grabbed her shoes and jacket and threw them in first, crawling in feet-first after them. Barely a few minutes went by before rain began pouring down, and she held her breath as she waited for the structure to leak. She gave a sigh of relief when it held up, and got situated in her little shelter for the night. It was only about three feet tall, and got narrower towards the top, so she couldn't comfortably sit. She grabbed her still-damp jacket and pulled it close, so she could easily make a sudden run for it if necessary. The clothing she was still wearing was still damp, and she shivered violently. She feared hypothermia, but hoped her body heat would bounce back from the walls soon and help dry her clothes. She placed her hands under her body to keep the fingertips from getting mild frostbite, and wishing once again she could build a fire. She longed to get some rest, but her mind was racing. 'I didn't find out what Shawn was saying in enough time…did I fail him?'. Part of her knew she wouldn't fail him unless she died out here, but she couldn't help these thoughts. As she slowly drifted to sleep, her mind still raced with thoughts of the two people she was determined to keep living for.

* * *

><p>Mal stared off into the pouring rain outside, standing with the other officers that had tagged along. Amy and Kai, who had just arrived, stood with him. They had to call off the search team for the time being, as the rain was so thick they could barely see two feet in front of them. Not that Mal hadn't tried, but had been reminded that these trails were only meant for expert hikers in nice weather.<br>Now all they could do was wait. Wait and hope that wherever Natara was, she was warm and safe. That the rain wasn't carrying away her body at this very moment.

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><p><strong>Sorry if you got bored with all the survival stuff…I'm a bit of a survivalist myself and couldn't resist. I'll probably update again today, just out of pure boredom.<strong> 


	28. Chapter 28

Natara's eyes snapped open, meeting nothing but cold darkness. She wasn't aware that she had fallen asleep, but that wasn't what concerned her now. Something had woken her up, and it wasn't the rain, for it had been reduced to a light drizzle. She tried to quietly shift from her position, finding her joints were still and painful. She was still shivering, and from the combined symptoms she knew she was entering the first stage of hypothermia. She pushed this thought from her mind, focusing on listening for any further sounds. Then she heard it, a very faint voice. A woman's. She couldn't tell if it was friend or foe, but hoped for the former. The voices were getting closer, and Natara could hear what they were saying now.  
>"…should go back, it's getting late. We're supposed to meet back at midnight" said the woman's voice.<br>"Yeah, but that guys gonna be really ticked. What's his name again? Mal?".  
><em>Mal…<em>. They were helping Mal, they were looking for her. She scooted out of her shelter, trying to determine the direction of the voices. But they were getting farther and farther away, and she knew she would lose them soon. "Wait!" she yelled, but found her voice was shaky and horse. She stumbled towards the voices, but she could barely hear them anymore. She went in their general direction, blindly walking through the darkness that had fallen. She could hear them again, still talking. "Wait!" she tried to call again, but it once again came out just above a whisper. "Come back…". She rushed blindly through the trees, ignoring the pain that came from stepping on sharp stones. "Stop!" she called, this time a little louder. Suddenly the faint voices stopped. Natara thought she heard the woman say "Did you hear that?".  
>"Come on Tara, it's probably just the wind".<br>'They heard me…'. She yelled again "Over here!".  
>She heard the man's voice "Tara, come back! There's nothing there, you could get lost!". Natara could see the nearing beam of a flashlight, distorted through the light rain. She came closer to the light, near tears with relief. 'Its over now' she though 'it's all over'.<p>

* * *

><p>Mal Fallon had never seen his partner cry. Maybe that's why it shocked him as he watch Natara, sitting in the back of an ambulance and wrapped in an emergency blanket, talking to the park ranger whom he was told had been the one who found her. At first he thought it was rain, for her face was nearly calm and she was slightly smiling. Then he saw that she was actually crying, occasionally giving a light gasp for air. As he walked over to her, it felt odd. It was as if he was walking in on something sacred and privet. He walked over, and she simply stared at each other for a moment, as if unsure the other was real. He hopped up and sat next to her, seeing she was shivering. He awkwardly placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close as to give her some warmth. In return she rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes for only a moment. "I knew you wouldn't give up" she said in barely a whisper "That you'd figure it out".<br>Mal smiled down at her, and she lazily opened her eyes again. "Nat, I'm so sorry. If I had believed you about Shawn earlier, this might have never happened".  
>Her eyes suddenly widened "You believe me?". He slowly nodded, and her face split into a rather tired-looking smile. She wrapped her arms around her partner, and together they simply sat like that. Natara stopped shivering, warmed by the heat if both Mal's arms and the words that he had said.<p> 


	29. epilogue

Mal roughly showed the morning paper to the others in the morning, each of them reading over each others shoulders. Amy was reading it out loud in a rough whisper, since Kai was struggling to see it over Ken's shoulder.  
>"<em>'Former FBI Agent Shawn Mallory was shot dead on Saturday evening, killed at the hand of another FBI agent. Mallory, whom was believed to be dead, came back and began harassing his former partner. No name has been disclosed, but many are lead to believe that this is directly connected to a missing persons search last night, and the murder of a local collage girl. Jane Nott, who was later found dead atop of the Alcatraz prison building, was later confirmed to have been murdered by Shawn Mallory. Jane Nott, who went missing a few weeks ago…'<em>" Amy stopped reading, looking up at Mal. "How did they get this story?" she asked.  
>"I don't know, but whatever you do don't let Natara see it" said Mal sharply. She didn't need this on her mind among other things.<br>"Doesn't matter anyways, doubt she'll be in this morning. That's a hell of a thing for anyone to go through" said Ken. Suddenly the doors opened, and they all looked up. Natara was there, looking tired. Mal grabbed the paper from Amy's hands and put it behind his back. This didn't go unnoticed by Natara. "What's that?" she asked.  
>"Nothing" Mal lied quickly. Natara scowled at him and reached behind him for the paper, grabbing it out of his hand. They watched as her eyes scanned the page, taking in what it said.<br>"I'm sorry" Amy said "I just don't think they could put out that he was a hero after he killed that girl. People aren't ready to believe that".  
>Natara sighed, tossing the paper on a nearby table. "It doesn't matter".<br>Ken looked confused "The whole world thinks Shawn's some psycho murderer, doesn't that bother you?".  
>Natara shook her head "No, because I know. And that's all that matters, that's all he wanted".<br>She smiled warmly at Mal, at the only person who believed her fully. Amy still was unsure, as was Kai and Ken. Mal returned it warmly, knowing that she was telling the truth. That it really didn't matter as long as she knew. Knew that there was once someone named Shawn Mallory, and he had tried to save her life. Mal put his arm around her shoulder once again, just like he had last night to keep her warm.  
>"And do do I" he said, pulling her close. She smiled, allowing him to embrace her in comfort. She put her head on his shoulder, and the others only stared awkwardly. Mal knew that at this time something had changed. That Shawn had protected Natara, and in turn he had taken over. Because that's what partners do, at whatever the cost, <em>they protect each other. <em>


End file.
